Qing Ming Rants..

I'm back in hometown a couple of days for Qing Ming. Qing Ming is essentially a "tomb sweeping" day. Its usually on the April 5th of our calendar. And the period to do this its +/- 10 days of that.

Qing Ming a Chinese festival to honour and pay respect to our ancestors. Burning of incense, joss sticks, paper money ( it looks really real) is a normal sight of this festivies. Richer families will go a more elaborate way by burning paper 'anything' i.e. cars, stereo set, home theater system, servants. Its a belief when these are burn in the vicinity of the tomb, the ancestors will receive it in heaven.

Before the burning starts, everything has to be clean hence the name tomb sweeping. It used to be a family affaird where every takes part and clean it. However, nowadays you can engage cleaner to clean it before you arrive whom are the locals nearby chancing on this opportunity to make a extra buck. Current price is 25 ringgit. We did just that. I'm just not born for manual labour. :)

Well, as a believer in the Christian faith, you are not supposed to hold the joss sticks or burn incense. However I beg to differ, as I think Its ok. I helped to burn some paper money and other gold colored paper. I viewed this as a form of respect and as an honour to do this. I don't believe my faith will be swayed by this, and if this act sways other's faith, well..their faith is just not strong enough. All in all, its a personal stand in this.

What I notice is lesser and lesser young people nowadays does it esspecially those that have to carry out in the 'ulu' (remote) areas where its infested with mosquitoes and scorching sun rays. I wonder when will be the day, when there is a cyber Qing Ming where we remember the dead in cyber space. They already have cyber cemetry for pets.

Being an Engineer

Why am I what today ? Engineer is what i am today.

Was it my ambition since young to be an engineer. Engineer, Computer Engineers, Electrical Engineer and all sort of engineering were considered a professional and glamourous career when I was a much younger age. Those days, engineers takes 6-7 years to earn their degree.

Intrigued by Macgyver and all things sci-fi, when the teacher ask what is your ambition, "Cita-cita saya adalah menjadi jurutera" which means I want to be an engineer. The rest is history, you have to do well to be stream into science stream, and then pursue a engineering degree thereafter.

Then you realised, the perils of life hits you. Bills, insurances, bills, loan repayments, healthcare, food, a roof, etc. It seems, the engineering degree will land you a reasonable starting salary and then thats it. It tortoise from there. As cost of living increases, your salary crawls.

What's wrong with engineering ? What happens to the prestige and the glamour held by it ? In the government effort to churn out more engineers, the degree course now takes only 4 -5 years. And furthermore, its very exam oriented, means who cares about whether you know how to use the Ohms law, all you need is to know how to answer the question.

I am rethinking whether to pursue ahead on the technical path, it seems vague and bleak to me. Not many companies in Singapore/ Malaysia really encourage innovation and invention because of the cost factor. We are still trying to keep cost low in competition with the much more developed countries, thats why our engineers are still relatively cheap.

I would certainly advise my future generation to re-consider properly if he/she wishes to pursue a career in engineering.

NightCrawler

Its 2:49am...my body is tired...my mind says i should sleep...but I'm wide awake...typing this.

WAs watching Blood Diamond just now. Maybe that cause me to be wide awake now.

I need to get some shut eye...I need to sleep...sandman...please..

Does counting sheep/goat/lambs help ? 1 ...2...3...4...darn...

I need alcohol...ZZzzzzz

Best Advice yet..Wear Sunscreen

I came across an old song which I have live its advice.

Here is the best piece of advice yet,..

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.


And..its still the best piece of advice yet ..

What is Right and What is Wrong ?

Moral, Values , Principles, Rules, Conscience..

What makes one thing right and what makes one thing wrong. What is Good ? What is Evil, and then after a while, there is a need for " the better Good" and " the lesser Evil" and " the necessary Evil". This part is when the concept of Flexible morals being explored.

Through years and years of civilization, men try to manipulate men. Setting and writing laws, rules, customs, beliefs to manipulate each other. Some for the benefit of living in harmony and togetherness, but some are purely selfish.

The mind is pure , naked and innocent when we were born. And it gets more complicated as we experience life.

Well, no one knows the answer except God Himself.

As for myself..

1. First tier cause and effect. An action that does not injure or cause dicomfort directly for someone or another living being, its warranted as Good. Otherwise its Bad.

2. Second tier cause and effect. if an action prevents less injury or discomfort for more people, then it overwrites 1.

3. Third tier. If an action benefits everyone, mankind or animalkind, then its good.